A known electric pump including a fluid pump, an electric motor driving the fluid pump, and a driver controlling an electric current supply to the electric motor being integrally formed as a unit, is disclosed in JP2005-337095A, hereinafter referred to as Reference 1.
More specifically, an electric pump disclosed in Reference 1 includes a pump portion discharging an operating oil and a motor for driving the pump portion. The pump portion and the motor are integrally formed as a unit. A stator of the motor is housed in a motor housing made of resin. A circuit board of a driver portion is fixed to the motor housing at a position in an opposite direction of where the pump portion is. A cover is attached to the motor housing such that the cover houses the driver portion. Accordingly, a space for containing the driver portion is formed by the motor housing and the cover.
In the electric pump disclosed in Reference 1, the driver portion is larger in size relative to the motor portion. As a result, a dead space is formed below the driver portion at an outward portion of the motor portion, a space incapable of an effective use. On an occasion where such electric pump is installed on an engine, the electric pump projects out from the engine, which makes allocation of a space for such electric pump in an engine room difficult.
A need thus exists for an electric pump, which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.